Bristol Balloon Fiesta films bring recycling alive

Bristol Waste is bringing recycling alive with short films created to celebrate the Bristol Balloon Fiesta.

In partnership with Real World Visuals, the newly established Bristol Waste Company has developed the films to illustrate the amount of physical resources being wasted by households across the city.

By comparing the volume of rubbish thrown away to a hot air balloon, Bristol Waste is aiming to capture people’s imagination and encourage householders to rise to the waste challenge.

Tracey Morgan, Managing Director, of Bristol Waste said: “The recycling rate at the Balloon Fiesta last year was a very impressive 86%. We’re committed to working with all Bristol citizens to drive up household recycling rates for the rest of the year too. We believe waste is a shared responsibility and we’ll play our part but we do need the whole city to join in – on both recycling and tackling litter reduction in the city.”

Having recently taken back the contract for managing the city’s waste and recycling, Bristol Waste is targeting householders with its new creative campaign. Using data visualisation in this first-of-a-kind project, the company is aiming to bring recycling to life for Bristol’s 430,000 inhabitants.

Bristol’s recycling rate is currently 46.5% and the films illustrate the ‘wasted opportunity of recycling’ in a way that has not been attempted before.

Labour Councillor Marg Hickman, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods said: “Bristol Waste Company has found a novel way to engage with the city about litter and recycling. As the balloons fill our skies over the next few days, people will be able to visualise the vast amounts of resources that we are wasting every week. This is a good opportunity for us to all take note and remember that recycling is one of the simplest ways to help combat climate change.”

Antony Turner of Real World Visuals said: “The Balloon Fiesta is a familiar and popular event for the people of Bristol. Showing the city’s waste mountain alongside a hot air balloon provides a striking reminder about how much can still be recycled. Helping people visualise the waste challenge is vital if we’re to meet future recycling targets, and importantly, become more resourceful with the materials that society uses.”

The films use aerial drone footage from above Ashton Court in Bristol, the home of the Balloon Fiesta. The first film shows the amount of litter dropped in Bristol’s streets, and the second shows the amount of recyclable household waste that still gets thrown away by households across the city.

Real World Visuals, based in Bristol, uses real data combined with CGI to illustrate things that are normally invisible to people. The films made for Bristol Waste also use aerial drone footage to set the scene, and is the first time that a city’s waste has been presented in such a way.

Antony Turner continued: “The art of engagement is changing, but the rules are the same whether you’re communicating about food waste, resource use or climate change. Once you make the data meaningful, people really get it.”

The Bristol International Balloon Fiesta takes place from 11-14 August 2016 and attracts over 150 Hot Air Balloons from across the globe. Held at Ashton Court Estate, the event is completely free to attend. Alongside the fantastic site of hot air balloons filling the skies, there is a large number of trade stands, fairground rides and entertainment. bristolballoonfiesta.co.uk

Bristol Waste Company is the city’s local recycling, waste collection and street cleansing company. The company employs 450 people who make 17 million scheduled collections every year, operate 180 vehicles, collect 140,000 tonnes of waste and recycling per annum of which 53,000 tonnes is sent for composting or recycling. BWC cleans 800 miles of streets and footpaths and deals with 180,000 ad hoc job requests and service queries annually. bristolwastecompany.co.uk

Real World Visuals is a unique environmental communication business that helps people see what is currently invisible – from carbon emissions and local air pollution, to global resources and waste. The teamcombines rigorous scientific methods, programming, environmental understanding and creative media skills to turn data into captivating imagery that anyone can relate to. realworldvisuals.com